


Lost in the Flames

by Pillow



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, More tags will be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2018-11-06 20:04:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11043348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pillow/pseuds/Pillow
Summary: Flames – they licked the wallsTenderly they turned to dust all that I adore





	1. Chapter 1

_I was the match and you were the rock_  
_Maybe we started this fire_  
_We sat apart and watched_  
_All we had burned on the pyre_  


* * *

Hair just the perfect shade of strawberry blond to appear pink in the sunlight and cigarette smoke curling in the chill spring air are what greet Lucy as she follows the flow of people out of the mall. Dark eyes flicker up to meet her’s for just a moment before a wide grin spreads across his face, and she swears he looks almost predatory grinning at her like that with cigarette smoke curling in front of his face. Honey brown eyes widen at the thought, shoulders squaring as she stands just that little bit straighter; unsure of how to feel about that particular thought and the images it conjures in her mind. Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she allows a slight frown to appear on her face before she breaks the staring contest and shoulders through the crowd on her way past him.

She doesn’t know who he is, but he’s there every time she gets off work; leaning against one of the decorative pillars in front of the mall, cigarette hanging from his lips and the sun making his hair look pink. He never says a word to her, doesn’t wave or make a move towards her at all, just leans against that pillar and grins when he sees her. And she shouldn’t find his presence so intriguing, knows that she should probably report him to the police for loitering or try to chase him off, but.. He’s not threatening her, hasn’t hurt anyone or anything, so she sees no reason to do any of that. So she engages him in a staring contest whenever she sees him but otherwise ignores him.

For a week this had been their routine, short staring contest and then pretending that she hadn’t seen him, and honestly she’d thought that today would be no different. Except that it was.

As she moved to walk past him, a yell sounded from his direction and a silvery-blue cat ran in front of her, followed shortly by Pinky, who practically bowled her over. There was a yelp as she landed rather ungracefully on her butt, blinking in confusion as she wondered what had just happened and loud curses as the man tripped over her, landing face first on the sidewalk.

Irritation and concern both flared in Lucy as she stared at the man, silently wondering if she should smack him for running her over in the first place or if she should check to see if he was okay. In the end, she settled for a mixture of both options. What kind of person would she be if she didn’t help someone that had fallen on their face in front of her?

Rolling onto her knees, the blonde shuffled forward, one hand outstretched towards the man before her. He was still cursing the cat, which had come back to sit beside his head, but had yet to move from where he'd fallen. She was almost touching him, had been ready to poke his shoulder to get his attention, when he suddenly sat up. The sudden movement caught her off guard and she _might_ have screamed in shock.

"Hey, could you stop screaming for a second? You're hurting my ears." The way he spoke, so nonchalant and calm like nothing had happened, surprised her so much that she immediately shut up. The resulting grin he flashed her before turning his attention to the cat confused her, and she wondered if this man was insane. What person spoke so casually after falling face first on a sidewalk and then acted as if it hadn't happened at all?

Irritation dying a bit, Lucy cleared her throat to get his attention this time, deciding that it might be better not to touch him. If he really were insane, there was no telling what he'd do if she touched him. "Uh-- A-are you okay?"

"Hm?" A glance up at her as he paused in petting the cat, obviously surprised at her concern. Dark eyes roved over her as she knelt beside him, noting the nametag that got skewed when she fell and the expression on her face before he grinned again, albeit rather sheepishly this time. "Who me? Ah yeah, don't worry. Sorry about knocking you over by the way, I didn't mean to."

"I--" She stumbled over her words as she watched him place the cat on his head and stand up; brushing off his jeans before he held a hand out to her. There was a moment of hesitation as she stared at his outstretched hand, a distant feeling that this was fated swelling in her heart urging her to ignore all of the alarms going off in the back of her mind and take his hand. Swallowing the sudden dryness in her throat, she placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet, implicitly knowing that she couldn't go back now. Whether she liked it or not, she had a feeling she was stuck with Pinky and his cat now.

"Are you alright? Name's Natsu by the way and this is Happy."

"Y-yeah. Hi, Lucy."


	2. Capter 2

Retracting her hand, Lucy took a moment to knock any dirt off her butt and tug at the bottom of her shirt; a habit she’d picked up somewhere, though she couldn’t quite recall where. Clearing her throat, she wondered idly if she should excuse herself and go home or if she were supposed to try and start a conversation. She’d never really been in a situation like this before, and was at a loss of what exactly she was supposed to do.

“--Luce? Luce!” His voice broke into her thoughts, startling her and bringing her back to reality. Wait. Had he just given her a nickname?

“I-- Wh-what? Sorry!” She offers him a sheepish smile, tucking a blonde strand behind one ear as she stands there in front of him. Clearing her throat, she offers him a quiet apology, “I’m so sorry, but I didn’t catch what you were saying.”

“S’okay,” it’s more of a throaty laugh than an actual response, and Lucy can’t help but marvel at how nice it is to hear him laugh. “I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to go and get a drink somewhere..?”

Natsu lets his words trail off, head cocked to the side and one hand rubbing absently at the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. And God but Lucy can’t help but think for a moment, that he looked far less predatory than she had originally painted him in her head. No longer was he the stranger grinning behind cigarette smoke at her, dark eyes holding her’s in a staring contest. Instead, he was now the stranger with an adorable smile, cat perched precariously atop his head and asking her to get a drink with him. Everything had changed so suddenly that it was hard to wrap her head around the situation.

Remembering that he’d asked her a question, Lucy feigned a polite cough to cover up her embarrassment. Shifting from one foot to the other, she thought about what he’d asked her for a moment, considering the pros and cons of grabbing a drink with him. Pro: He was a fairly attractive man close to her own age. Con: He’d made her feel rather uneasy for weeks because of his creepy staring. Pro: He obviously liked animals, considering he had a cat. Con: He smoked. Pro: He was friendly and had a nice laugh.

“Well,” she started, finally coming to a decision, fingers of one hand still fiddling with the hem of her shirt, “I-- S-sure. Did you have a place in mind?” Hopefully she’d made the right decision and wouldn’t come to regret her choice the next morning.

“Really?! Hell yeah!” Dark eyes light up with unrestrained excitement as a wide smile spreads across his face. He stands just that little bit straighter, hand falling from the back of his neck to his side, fingers twitching slightly like they itched to reach forward and grab her hand. “Yeah! I’ve got just the place in mind! C’mon!”

And just like that, without even waiting for a response, Natsu reached forward and grabbed her hand, dragging her along behind him. Lucy was too surprised to protest, stumbling a bit as she tried to keep up, a million things running through her mind. Where were they going? Was it safe? Was _she_ safe? And above all; what in the world had she gotten herself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this sitting in my docs for a while, but I just now got around to polishing it up and making sure it sounded okay. Please forgive for the lateness, and hopefully I won't take so long on the next chapter, though I make no promises.

**Author's Note:**

> To keep myself from growing bored or uninterested in this story, I will not be setting a specific day or time for updates. They will come as I get the inspiration. My apologies that this means my updates may be very slow.


End file.
